1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle side-door structure which has what is called a freestyle structure (or a double-leafed hinged door structure). Specifically, a front door and a rear door cover a door opening with no center pillar so that the opening can be opened and closed, the front door is pivotally attached on a hinge at its front part to a vehicle body so that it can be opened and closed, and the rear door is pivotally attached on a hinge at its rear part to the vehicle body so that it can be opened and closed.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following is a conventional example of such a vehicle side-door structure. According to the example, a continuous door opening with no partition is formed in a side part of a vehicle body, and a front door and a rear door cover the door opening so that it can be opened and closed. Then, the front door is pivotally attached on a front-door hinge at its front part to the vehicle body, the rear door is pivotally attached on a rear-door hinge at its rear part to the vehicle body. Next, a side-door made up of the front door and the rear door is configured so as to have what is called a double-leafed hinged door structure. In addition, the rear-end part of the front door overlaps with the outside of the front-end part of the rear door, and a reinforcement member which extends in the up-and-down directions (or simply “vertical direction”) is provided on the inside of the front-end part of the rear door (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-138864 specification)
The above described double-leafed hinged door with no center pillar has a structure in which the reinforcement member is disposed at the front part of the rear door, and the rear-end part of the front door overlaps with the outside of the front-end part of the rear door. However, there has been a disadvantage in that such a structure cannot provide adequate rigidity. Particularly, when the vehicle is bumped at its side part, the side door makes its way into the vehicle cabin. In such an accident, the side door has not been rigid enough to reduce the depth to which it makes inroads.
In consideration of the aforementioned problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle side-door structure which is capable of, in the side door having a double-leafed hinged door structure, enhancing the rigidity of the side door, thus reducing the depth to which the side door makes its way into the vehicle cabin at the time of a vehicle-side bump, and thereby, keeping vehicle occupants safer in such an accident. In order to attain the object, in the vehicle side-door structure according to the present invention, a front-door rear reinforcement is provided in a rear end part of the front door, which extends in the up-and-down directions along the rear end part.